[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

Last year’s road game against Texas  was perhaps one of the most memorable moments for the UW men’s basketball team, as Michael Flowers’ buzzer-beater earned the Badgers an upset victory.

This year, a home game against the Longhorns highlights the 2008-2009 schedule, which was released Wednesday.

The Texas game is just one of 18 home contests for Wisconsin this year. They will begin the season with four straight games atin the Kohl Center when they play host to Augustana and UW-Whitewater in exhibition games, while Long Beach State and SIU-Edwardsville open the regular season.

After that, Bo Ryan’s squad will travel to the Virgin Islands to take part in the Paradise Jam Tournament, where they wi’ll match up against Iona in the opening round. They could also potentially face San Diego, UConn and Miami (Fla.) in the tournament – all three of which qualified for last season’s NCAA Tournament.

Two other notable road games include Virginia Tech – UW’s opponent for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge – and in-state rival Marquette.

The Big Ten season will begin on New Year’s Eve for the Badgers when they take on Michigan in Ann Arbor. Wisconsin fans will get the chance to see Ohio State in Madison on Valentine’s Day, while the Indiana Hoosiers close out the regular season schedule when they visit the Kohl Center March 8.

With Charter Communications now carrying the Big Ten Network, fans will also be able to catch the action of nearly every game on television. At least 15 of UW’s games will be carried on the network, while eight more will be picked up by the ESPN family of networks.